Pressure-sensitive tapes are virtually ubiquitous in the home and workplace. In its simplest configuration, a pressure-sensitive tape comprises an adhesive and a backing, and the overall construction is tacky at the use temperature and adheres to a variety of substrates using only moderate pressure to form the bond. In this fashion, pressure-sensitive tapes constitute a complete, self-contained bonding system.
According to the Pressure-Sensitive Tape Council, adhesives are known to possess properties including the following: (1) adherence with no more than finger pressure, (2) sufficient ability to hold onto an adherend, and (3) sufficient cohesive strength to be removed cleanly from the adherend. Materials that have been found to function well as adhesives include polymers designed and formulated to exhibit the requisite viscoelastic properties resulting in a desired balance of tack, peel adhesion, and shear holding power.
These requirements are assessed generally by means of tests which are designed to individually measure tack, adhesion (peel strength), and cohesion (shear holding power), as noted in A. V. Pocius in Adhesion and Adhesives Technology: An Introduction, 2nd Ed., Hanser Gardner Publication, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2002. These measurements taken together constitute the balance of properties often used to characterize an adhesive.
Acrylic adhesives are known to provide good performance, however efforts have been made to increase the molecular weight in an effort to improve the cohesive strength. However, an increase in the molecular weight reduces the tack of the adhesive.